“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause as we work to nearly double the size of our emergency department to meet the needs of the growing community,” said Laura Florez-McCusker, a spokeswoman for Kaweah Delta.

The department's multi-phase expansion is expected to be complete in summer 2020.

Improvements include:

Growing the number of patient beds from 41 to 74 beds

Nearly doubling the size of the waiting room to accommodate more than 100 patients and their families. The current emergency department can fit about 65 people.

Adding a "fast track" area that will allow patients to be more quickly screened

The emergency department was originally built to serve 72,000 patients a year.

Currently, the emergency department has a patient navigator on-site who ensures patients are getting the care they need, hospital administrators said. In addition to answering questions and helping patients understand the process of care, the assistant, a licensed vocational nurse, can also monitor patients health.

Kaweah Delta has also made changes to ensure that patients are seen by a nurse minutes after arrival. Vitals are taken by a technician and a doctor see the patient within 30 minutes so that if any tests are needed, they can be ordered.

Construction on the two-year project began in the winter of 2017 and the projected cost is $32.8 million.

Funding for the project comes from partial proceeds from the $100 million in bonds sold by Kaweah Delta in December 2015. Principal and interest will be repaid to bondholders from revenue received by Kaweah Delta for providing patient care services.

All hospital services will remain open throughout the expansion.

Calley Cederlof covers Tulare County schools, local government and business for the Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @calleyc_vtd. Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.